"hammer home" meaning in English

See hammer home in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-hammer home.ogg Forms: hammers home [present, singular, third-person], hammering home [participle, present], hammered home [participle, past], hammered home [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} hammer home (third-person singular simple present hammers home, present participle hammering home, simple past and past participle hammered home)
  1. (idiomatic) To repeatedly or continually emphasise (an opinion or idea) until or so that a person or group of people understands it. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: drive home Translations (to repeatedly or continually emphasise): 強調 /强调 (koeng⁴ diu⁶) (Chinese Cantonese), 反覆說明 /反覆说明 (faan² fuk¹ syut³ ming⁴) (Chinese Cantonese), einbläuen (German), szájába rág (Hungarian), szájba rág (Hungarian), вда́лбливать (vdálblivatʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), вдолби́ть (vdolbítʹ) [perfective] (Russian), tuviti u glavu [idiomatic] (Serbo-Croatian), utuvljivati (Serbo-Croatian), hamra in (Swedish)

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hammers home",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hammering home",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hammered home",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hammered home",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "hammer home (third-person singular simple present hammers home, present participle hammering home, simple past and past participle hammered home)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Cantonese terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
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          "source": "w"
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The politicians seem to think that they have to hammer home every policy for the public to understand it: I would have thought we're more intelligent than that.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 December 21, Bryan Lufkin, “How 'linguistic mirroring' can make you more convincing”, in BBC:",
          "text": "In other situations, you might know someone who adds colour with personal anecdotes and feelings. You could shoot off a similar response – perhaps including a short story of your own to hammer home your point.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 August 23, Pip Dunn, “The last bastion of the HST 'Castles'”, in RAIL, number 990, page 49:",
          "text": "Seeing that it was withdrawn in perfectly good working order hammers it home: these trains are on borrowed time.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To repeatedly or continually emphasise (an opinion or idea) until or so that a person or group of people understands it."
      ],
      "id": "en-hammer_home-en-verb-Kp7t4tOp",
      "links": [
        [
          "repeatedly",
          "repeatedly"
        ],
        [
          "continually",
          "continually"
        ],
        [
          "emphasise",
          "emphasise"
        ],
        [
          "opinion",
          "opinion"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To repeatedly or continually emphasise (an opinion or idea) until or so that a person or group of people understands it."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "drive home"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "koeng⁴ diu⁶",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "word": "強調 /强调"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "faan² fuk¹ syut³ ming⁴",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "word": "反覆說明 /反覆说明"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "word": "einbläuen"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "word": "szájába rág"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "word": "szájba rág"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "vdálblivatʹ",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "вда́лбливать"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "vdolbítʹ",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "вдолби́ть"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "tuviti u glavu"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "word": "utuvljivati"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
          "word": "hamra in"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hammer home.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/15/En-au-hammer_home.ogg/En-au-hammer_home.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/En-au-hammer_home.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hammer home"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hammers home",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hammering home",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hammered home",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hammered home",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "hammer home (third-person singular simple present hammers home, present participle hammering home, simple past and past participle hammered home)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Cantonese terms with redundant transliterations",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Cantonese translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The politicians seem to think that they have to hammer home every policy for the public to understand it: I would have thought we're more intelligent than that.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 December 21, Bryan Lufkin, “How 'linguistic mirroring' can make you more convincing”, in BBC:",
          "text": "In other situations, you might know someone who adds colour with personal anecdotes and feelings. You could shoot off a similar response – perhaps including a short story of your own to hammer home your point.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 August 23, Pip Dunn, “The last bastion of the HST 'Castles'”, in RAIL, number 990, page 49:",
          "text": "Seeing that it was withdrawn in perfectly good working order hammers it home: these trains are on borrowed time.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To repeatedly or continually emphasise (an opinion or idea) until or so that a person or group of people understands it."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "repeatedly",
          "repeatedly"
        ],
        [
          "continually",
          "continually"
        ],
        [
          "emphasise",
          "emphasise"
        ],
        [
          "opinion",
          "opinion"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To repeatedly or continually emphasise (an opinion or idea) until or so that a person or group of people understands it."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hammer home.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/15/En-au-hammer_home.ogg/En-au-hammer_home.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/En-au-hammer_home.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "drive home"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "koeng⁴ diu⁶",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "word": "強調 /强调"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "faan² fuk¹ syut³ ming⁴",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "word": "反覆說明 /反覆说明"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "word": "einbläuen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "word": "szájába rág"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "word": "szájba rág"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "vdálblivatʹ",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "вда́лбливать"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "vdolbítʹ",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "вдолби́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "word": "tuviti u glavu"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "word": "utuvljivati"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to repeatedly or continually emphasise",
      "word": "hamra in"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hammer home"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (ee63ee9 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.